Tell Me How
by GetItTogetherYo
Summary: To be happy in this world, especially when youth is past, it is necessary to feel oneself not merely an isolated individual whose day will soon be over, but part of the stream of life flowing on from the first germ to the remote and unknown future. A woman by the name of Monica Tlaiye Suen Al-Hakim works for the infamous Abstergo Industries. When she hears that they plan on cap
1. Insight

**Alright you guys! This is the first chapter to my Desmond Miles story. My best friend gave me the idea for this story when she was telling me that the bartender at the hotel was staying at looked like Desmond! Enjoyyy! Rate, review! :D**

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The click-clacking sound of heels echoed through the white, desolate hallways of the infamous Abstergo Industries, a supposed pharmaceutical company. A woman, barely ripe at the young age of twenty-two years, walked with a purpose towards the office of head director of Research, Warren Vidic. Her small hand pounded patiently on the large brown door and a clear but loud 'come in' was heard from the other side. The door creepily creaked open as she cautiously stepped into the large overly bland room. Bland was merely one adjective she could use to compare the color contrast of Abstergo. They seemed to really love the color white for it was at every corner she turned in the facility.

"You wanted to see me, Mr. Vidic?" she pondered aloud, stepping even further into the white room.

"Ah, yes, Ms. Al-Hakim. Please, have a seat. There are some important matters I wish to discuss with you." He was fiercely pounding on the keys to his keyboard, staring blankly at his large computer screen. He was so concentrated with what was on the screen in front of him that he barely even noticed the woman in the room with him. There was a pregnant silence as she uncomfortably shifted positions on his rough leather chair. Another couple of minutes of silence ensued and she slowly began to lose her remaining patience for the man.

"Mr. Vidic, if you're just…" She couldn't even continue her sentence because he decided now was the best time to focus on the task at hand.

"Please, Monica. I've told you time and time again to call me Warren. You've earned that right." He smiled cynically and turned his full attention towards her, clearing his throat. "Now, I assume that Ms. Stillman has given you brief details about our next step in our Project?" He raised his brow and patiently waited for her to give an answer, though in reality, she did not wish to give him one at all. She knew every singe action Abstergo took. How could she not? She was Vidic's right hand woman. But she did not approve of the horrible things they did. She knew all too well about the Animus Project and she knew all too well about Subject 16. It had only been two weeks since his death but it seemed that every one around her had completely forgotten that he had existed. He had caught the bleeding effect and he was a walking time bomb.

She had grown close to Clay while he was being researched on and it had deeply wounded her when she had witnessed what Abstergo had turned him into.

"You mean, Desmond Miles?" she wondered, smoothing out her white lab coat. Again with the white.

"Yes. I need you to do a little more research on him, if you can. He's quite the valuable piece to this project. More so than that other blonde-haired psycho." Just hearing him talk so lowly about Clay made her blood boil with vengeance and fury. She narrowed her green eyes, abruptly standing from her chair to defend clay to the best of her ability.

"He would not have been the way he was if you would not have used him as a guinea pig." Monica blew out a frustrated puff of air through her nostrils before continuing on her rant. "I even warned you that keeping him in the Animus too long would render him useless. But of course, you did not heed my warning." Her ears filled with the anger-inducing noise of Vidic's chuckling.

"Of course you did, my dear. But I wanted that man useless. I wanted him dead. He was no longer important to the plan." She did a 180 and glided over to the door, radiating with uncontrollable anger. As she was about to exit his office, she heard him speak once more. "Don't forget to do your research. And let us hope when Mr. Miles shows up to our facility that you won't get too attached for he won't be living very long." With that said, she slammed the door causing the doorframe to shake.

'_As if I'll ever let you do that. I will get to him before you can.'_ She thought, slowly sauntering down the hall to her own office.


	2. A Chance Encounter

Chapter two

She typed away at her computer with unmistakable vigor, closely examining every nook and cranny of Desmond's file. She secretly hoped she had gathered all the vital information she needed for her little 'vacation' to New York City. Her mind had been instantly made up from the moment she had heard Desmond Miles' name spill from Vidic's grotesque mouth. She vowed, not only to herself but to Clay as well, that she would prevent or delay Abstergo from getting their raunchy little Templar hands on him. Just the mere thought of this poor soul ending up six feet under, like clay, sent her stomach lurching forward. Her dark bangs covered her eyes, shielding them slightly from the glow of the computer screen. There was a sudden light knocking on her door. She glanced up and called for them to come in while continued on with what she was doing.

"Hey Moni, have you taken your lunch yet?" She inwardly cringed at the nickname that Lucy had endowed her with. She hated the woman for it. Hell, she hated the woman for various other reasons as well. She blew out a breath of frustration and turned towards Lucy, who was casually leaning against her door way.

"No, actually I have not." She admitted and left it at that. Lucy lifted an eyebrow and shifted to her other leg. Why couldn't she just leave? She must know that Monica didn't like her. But instead, she liked to annoy Monica with every little thing she did. "Did you need something, Lucy?"

"Yeah, I was just wondering if you wanted to grab some lunch with me." She didn't budge from the doorway. Monica pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance and tossed her head back to rest on the top of the leather chair.

"Not today, Lucy. I was actually finishing up something and then I was going to leave. I'm going out of town for a few weeks to visit some family in New York." She lied smoothly. She really was going to New York though, just not to visit family but Lucy didn't need to know that. Lucy made an 'O' with her mouth as she pushed herself off the frame and turned to leave.

"Does Vidic know about this?" She questioned Monica, suspicion clearly in her voice. "I mean, you are his best employee and you are the one taking care of the Desmond Miles case. So, are you sure he would just let you run off for a couple of weeks?" Monica stood from her chair, turning off her computer and gathering all of her belongings. She didn't answer Lucy, not because she didn't want to but mainly because she didn't know how to answer. It was silent between the two as Monica continued to stuff things in her bag. She threw the bag over her shoulder and stared blankly at Lucy, finally having something to reply with.

"Yes, Warren knows. I discussed it with him last week. He has no problem with it because I'll still be working." She said, stepping out from behind her desk and advancing towards the door that Lucy was unfortunately blocking. "Plus, I would prefer it if you stayed out of my business." Lucy narrowed her eyes and backed out of the doorway, gears turning in her mind. Lucy scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest while Monica closed and locked her office door. She turned around and Lucy was in her way, glaring daggers at her.

"I know you're up to something. I can sense it. Whatever it is, you should just give up. It's probably not even worth it." She said, smugly. Now it was Monica's turn to glare, her green eyes piercing Lucy's ice blue ones. She took a step closer, her breath falling unevenly on Lucy's face.

"Like I said before, stay out of my business. Even if I were up to something, I'm more than positive you'd run and tell Vidic." She huffed out, pushing past Lucy. She walked a couple of steps further before turning around and glaring some more. "After all, I wouldn't be the first person here you'd be turning your back on."

It was now well within the following week. Things had been a bit on the stressful side. Vidic was constantly blowing up her phone with questions regarding Desmond but she had no answers to satisfy him with. It was currently 5 am in the morning. She groggily stumbled her way through the airport with her carry on, gripping the life out a cup of coffee she had purchased at a kiosk she had walked by. She plopped herself on a nearby chair at her gate and took a long sip of her delicious coffee. She snuggled deeper into her hoodie and let her eyes rest themselves.

'_**Now boarding Flight 152 to New York City with one stop in Amsterdam.' **_

She immediately collected herself and headed for the gate. She slightly threw a smile at the ticket taker and handed her the piece of paper. The woman nodded and returned the slip back to her. She seated herself between a young man who appeared to be in his mid to early twenties with chestnut colored hair and black framed glasses. He wasn't ugly, that was for sure, but he seemed like a major computer geek and that immediately turned her off. A seat away from him sat a man in his mid-sixties with salt and pepper colored hair and a unique color of brown for eyes.

She whispered a quick 'excuse me' and took her seat, trying to make herself as comfortable as possible for the long, tiring flight. After they had taken off and the signal for seat belts to be optionally removed had been displayed, she rummaged through her bag and pulled out her IPhone. She had been so concentrated on one of the emails she had saved that she didn't noticed the guy to her right had said something to her.

"Oh pardon, did you say something?" She questioned, not really caring if he had or not.

"Ah yes, I did. Each iPhone contains hundreds of parts: semiconductors from Germany and Taiwan, memory from Korea and Japan, display panels and circuitry from Korea and Taiwan, chipsets from Europe, and rare metals from Africa and Asia. And all of that is assembled in China." She blankly stared at him. She had no earthly idea what this guy was talking about. "I apologize. I did not mean to spew random facts about Apple at you. My name is Shaun. Shaun Hastings. It is a pleasure." She hesitantly reached for his some-what outstretched hand and slowly shook it.

"Monica. Monica Tlaiye. Yes, it is nice to meet you as well." Shaun chuckled a bit before settling back into his seat, remaining silent for a few minutes before piping up again.

"So, where are you from? You don't seem like you're from Italy." She inwardly rolled her eyes. What a dumbass. Of course she wasn't from Italy. Only an hour and a half into the flight and she was already getting annoyed by this guy.

"No, I'm not. My grandparents are from Lebanon actually. They immigrated from there to Italy and it is where my family has stayed." She noticed him perk up a bit and turn his body a bit towards hers.

"Fantastic! Lebanon is a wonderful country! Beautiful and rich in culture. Did you know that the only Saturn Temple, who happens to be the god of time, is located Tripoli, Lebanon?" He said excitedly. Monica narrowed her eyes in utter confusion. How wrong could this guy get? She cleared her throat and locked her phone, putting it away in her bag once more.

"Actually, Shaun, it's the temple of Jupiter and it's located in Baalbek, Lebanon." She corrected, turning away from him. It was quiet for a while before she heard little chuckling. It was coming from the man sitting to her left. She tilted her head and gave him a questioning stare. He leaned over and chuckled a bit more.

"Don't mind him. He's a little dysfunctional around pretty girls such as yourself." She quickly turned her head to hide her oncoming blush. She was never really used to men giving her compliments. It wasn't because she wasn't pretty, that was far beyond the point. She was far beyond average. She just didn't go out much.

"So, you know him?" She asked, now with a new found curiosity.

"Yes, I'm actually his boss."

"Oh. How interesting. Where do you work, if you don't mind me asking?" He lightly chuckled, throwing his head back to rest against the seat and relaxing slightly.

"That is quite unimportant." He mumbled, turning his gaze towards the front. Monica's brow rose in suspicion but she blew it off as nothing. Nothing was really said after that. Hours had passed in the blink of an eye. She was reading a book when she felt something land on her shoulder. She cranked her neck and saw that Shaun fast asleep on her shoulder, drooling slightly. Grimacing, she turned back to her book and picked up where she had left off.

"If you want, we can switch seats. I'm sure you're uncomfortable with him being on your shoulder." She gave it some thought before finally agreeing and switching seats with the man. Everything returned to normal after and again she was met with silence for a little while longer. "Where do you work?" the man finally asked after about two hours of no speaking. She folded the corner of her book, shutting it and placing it on her lap.

"At a pharmaceutical company in Venice, Italy."

"Which one?" She smiled lightly. She didn't want to give her position away to someone she hardly even knew. She wanted to keep it as vague as possible. Besides, she didn't like telling people she worked for Abstergo. It was almost like saying that she was Satan's personal assistant.

"That's for me to know." She paused for dramatic effect. "And you to never find out." He stared at her for a while before chuckling for the millionth time.

"I see. You don't trust me. Don't worry about it. I get where you're coming from." The pair made more casual conversation as the flight dragged on. She spared him major details and kept it short and to the point. Within that following hour, it was time for the plane to land. She draped her carry on up on her shoulder and walked out of the plane, breathing in the aroma of JFK international airport. She saw the two men from the plane gather their things, sending her a small wave to give a proper goodbye. She waved back and sent Shaun a sorrowful glance. Now, it was time to get to work and find Desmond.


End file.
